Booker: King's dream should not make you comfortable

MORRISTOWN – Celebrating the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. should not make you comfortable, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker said.

"We disrespect and we disregard the dream if all this day is about is celebrating and remembering a version of King that's comfortable and convenient," said the New Jersey Democrat, speaking to more than 400 members of the community gathered Monday morning at the Morristown Hyatt to celebrate King's legacy at an interfaith breakfast.

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Booker referenced the "Santa Claus-ification" of Martin Luther King, and stressed the importance of remembering him as a man, not a saint. "The Dream is Freedom" may have been this year's theme at the 30th annual breakfast, but Booker said King's dream focused on many different issues.

"This dream was not a dream of comfort or convenience. It was not a dream of celebrity or popularity. It was uncomfortable. It was difficult. It was reviled," Booker said. "And it was not just about marching toward civil rights. King was immensely unpopular at the end of his life because he was standing up against poverty. He was immensely unpopular at the end of his life because he was standing up against war."

There were laughs and tears, but more than anything, the speech was a call to action to continue to pursue King's dream. He stressed the urgency for people to "get onto the field."

Sacrifice needed

Change must be carried in by those who work and sacrifice for it, Booker said.

"The title does not make the man, the man makes the title," Booker said. "Who will carry on Martin Luther King's dream?"

Religious leaders led the group in song and prayer throughout the three-hour breakfast. Longtime chairperson and co-founder of the Martin Luther King Observance Committee Felicia B. Jamison celebrated her final breakfast before stepping down, and was lauded at the start of the event for her decades of service.

Felicia Jamison's son, Alex, honored her in an emotional speech, recalling that he was 9 years old the day King was assassinated.

"I didn't know who he was at the time," Alex Jamison said. "I spent the next 46 years of my life learning the values of Martin Luther King through my mother, an amazing person."

U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., who has attended the event in the past, said he was charged with getting Booker to come to this year's event.

"Clergy present, thank God he's here," Frelinghuysen said.

Many who spoke addressed current events and framed them in the context of King's own words and actions.

Rev. Sidney Williams of the Bethel Church of Morristown referenced recent events including the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, and stressed the importance of talking about those issues, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Rabbi Donald Rossoff of Temple B'nai Or in Morristown introduced Booker, the guest speaker, by praising his hands-on approach to public service and for "walking, not just talking."

Personal stories

Booker — fresh off a red eye flight from Las Vegas, where he was celebrating his grandmother's 97th birthday — shared personal stories and discussed important issues.

In the more than half-hour-long speech, Booker preached unity, discussed a trip he took to Israel with his parents, and spoke of the "distraught present" he said the nation is currently facing.

America holds 25 percent of the world's prisoners, most for nonviolent crimes, and the federal prison population increased 800 percent in the 30 years since this annual breakfast started, he said.

"We should be No. 1 not in incarceration," Booker said, "But in education."

Booker also shared a "story of self-indictment" from when he was living in the since-demolished Brick Towers housing development in Newark as he rose to prominence. The heartbreaking story about a fellow resident, a young boy, who was shot after Booker became mayor, was an example of how everyone can — and should — do more.

Money raised at the event will benefit the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the Children's Defense Fund and the Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund.

Following the breakfast, the Calvary Baptist Church of Morristown held the 45th annual Service of Celebration at noon.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com